Wednesday, December 5, 2012

I have long held out that Outram Char Kway Teow at Hong Lim is the best char kway teow stall you can find in Singapore, but I was hoping to savor the legendary Hill Street stall before making a final judgement.

Well, I finally made it to this famous char kway teow, now situated in Bedok and I have to say, this is seriously, the best char kway teow anywhere in the world.

Before I get down to the actual dish, I must mention Mr Ng, who is 66 years old now and runs the stall with his sister and his son. The consensus is that when he is behind the cooking, it is undeniably the best.

When his sister or son takes over, it is still good, but they still do not match the Mr Ng's exquisite skills in making this dish.

The reason is pretty simple. Any good cook will tell you, that the secret to great cooking is not just having a big fire, but how to control that fire, and how to cook each ingredient to perfection.

This requires a lot of experience, skill and practice. And this is probably why Mr Ng is so respected and revered. Char kway teow itself is a mishmash of a multitude of ingredients and flavors.

The Ultimate Char Kway Teow

It was certainly an eye opener watching the Ng family cater to the large crowds that queue for their food everyday. The son and sister will pre-fry and pre-season the flat noodles before handing them over to the maestro.

The way Mr Ng cooks his kway teow is certainly quite special. And it clearly showed on the plate.

He knows perfectly how to balance all the flavors of the noodles, the spring onions, the lard bits, the bean sprouts and the cockles to a beautiful combination.

In essence, the noodles were smooth and slippery, and the essential grease of this dish was not too overbearing as well. His use of the sweet sauce was just right and combined with the slight char flavor of the dish, it came together wonderfully.

In the end, I can wax all sorts of lyrical here, but the point is, char kway teow as a dish is one of those things that everything has to come together in a perfect balance of flavors and textures.

And here, at Hill Street Char Kway Teow, everything came together perfectly.